Must be the clouds in my eyes
by DistractedlyHere
Summary: DL, but a couple of chapters of buildup including yet another theory on Lindsay's secret.


A/N: This will be DL eventually. Its building up to another of my wild notions about her secret. Daniel is my own character and inspired by the love a brother and sister can share, even when they don't share DNA. The rest of them are not mine.

Lindsay was leaning over the lab table pursing her lips and Danny stood opposite her biting the corner of his. Finally she dropped the papers she was staring at.

"This doesn't make any sense, we have three dead in the house, all related and one unrelated male victim, unaccounted for. Where did he go?"

Danny shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe he was an accomplice? Had second thoughts and our perp shot him, but he was still able to get away?"

Lindsay looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "Maybe, but the fingerprints on the door, the ones on the weapon, and on the tape used to bind the victims, all match to the same guy. If his accomplice got cold feet he did it right away and our perp did the whole crime himself."

This is how they worked, bouncing theories off one another, each feeding off of the other. She continued "Maybe there was another vic, taken for leverage or ransom?"

"What do you guys have?" Stella asked as she and Mac entered the lab.

"A missing vic." Danny answered.

"DNA is male but no alleles in common with the rest of the family."

"Monroe, you got a visitor." Flack said entering the lab and gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb. When he stepped out of the way he revealed a tall, muscular Asian man in military dress greens standing in the doorway.

Lindsay inhaled sharply and her hand flew to her mouth. She exhaled haltingly, emotion overtaking her and the hand that held her lips fell to just over her heart.

"Oh my God, Daniel." Tears threatening to escape her eyes.

A wide smile broke out on the young man's face and Lindsay took off in almost a full out run towards him. The man, a foot taller than her, received her in a bear hug, lifting her feet off the floor. Her coworkers stood gaping and from their vantage point they could see the emotion briefly flash across the officer's face and he was nearly brought to tears at Lindsay's touch. Danny stiffened at the sight of Lindsay in another man's arms, and the thought that they were each so happy that's where she was.

"I missed you so much, its so good to see, I can't believe your home." Lindsay said so excitedly it all ran together as one thought. Daniel gently lowered her back to standing when he resumed grinning at her.

"I'm not actually home Linds. I don't live in New York." He said, while Lindsay took hold of his shoulders and looked him up and down, as if inspecting for damage.

"Right, whatever, you're home country I mean." She said distractedly.

"Well," he lifted his eyebrows and looked upwards. "I think technically South Korea is my home country." Lindsay's hands slid down his arms and held each of his hands.

She rolled her eyes and nodded her head slightly. "Ok, ok. I mean here, home" she squeezed his hands. "Holding my hands where you're supposed to be."

"Wow, now the last time I was _supposed_ to hold your hand I was twel…" He was cut off as Lindsay stomped one foot while clapping a hand over his mouth.

"Daniel." She said sharply while gritting her teeth. "Please let me enjoy this moment of having you with me."

She removed her hand revealing his crooked grin. _Must every man in my life be infuriating, _she thought.

"Speaking of with you." He said leaning his head towards her, then in a stage whisper "I notice you're not alone." He nodded over her shoulder to the crowd of her coworkers who were making no effort to hide staring at the pair. She looked over her shoulder and laughed.

"Right." She said smiling taking Daniel's left hand and leading him into the lab. The tall male obligingly followed her. Danny could see how at ease Lindsay was with this man and he resented it. He swallowed back what he knew to be jealousy and did his best to appear unaffected by the surprise presence of this man holding Montana's hand.

"Everyone, this is my little brother Daniel." Lindsay said. "Daniel this is Stella, Flack, Danny and Mac." She said as Daniel shook each ones hand while she still held his other. Danny noted his strong grip and how even through the uniform you could tell the kid was buff. No wonder Lindsay seemed so unimpressed when he wore those tight shirts, she grew up with this muscle head.

"Welcome home soldier." Mac said.

"Thank you sir." Daniel said respectfully removing his hat and tucking it between his arm and his body. "Linsday's told me so much about you all. Well, written, or emailed I guess. We don't get to talk much." He said causing a flash of sadness to cross Lindsay's face.

"Funny, she's never mentioned you at all." Flack said, winning him a sharp elbow in the ribs from Stella. Daniel looked hurt and turned his eyes to his sister.

"What are you, ashamed of the adopted one?" He asked gravely. Lindsay just gave her brother an exaggerated grimace.

"Ha, ha." She said flatly, raising the hand not clutching his to slap him lightly on the chest as he burst out laughing.

"Sorry man, I didn't mean to…" Flack trailed off wishing he had better social skills.

"Nah. She doesn't like to mention me since I shipped out. I'm a big secret." Daniel said raising his eyebrows while still smiling. Lindsay could see the puzzled look of her friends not completely resolved.

"Not a secret Daniel," she said annoyed. "Its hard enough not knowing where you are all the time, and being paralyzed with fear every time I hear about a soldier down. I don't need everyone I know asking me if I've gotten word lately, reminding me you're so far away." Lindsay saw her friends faces soften with slight recognition. She turned her eyes to her brother who was looking at her for the first time without a grin. Old wounds were opening and long closed arguments resurfacing.

"If he had just become a veterinarian like I told him, I would talk about him everyday." Lindsay said looking at Daniel with true scolding.

"Here we go," Daniel said. "We've been having this conversation since I joined ROTC when I was seventeen. Coincidentally her favorite horse was sick at the time." Daniel's crooked grin came back and Lindsay just shook her head. Danny let out a chuckle and Mac tried to hide his smirk.

"Lindsay, if you had told me your brother was going to be in town, I could have arranged for you to have the afternoon off." Mac said.

Lindsay's brow furrowed. "Thanks Mac. I would have asked for the day off, had I known my brother was going to be in town." Lindsay said, her voice again dripping with annoyance as she turned to her little brother. "Why didn't you tell me?" Lindsay asked him.

"Because I spent a dozen or so Christmas's with you sneaking into my room when it was still dark out, sitting on the edge of my bed, bouncing your knees up and down for an eternity waiting for the Terrance's rooster to crow so you could call it Christmas and run down stairs to open presents."

"Man, she still does that knee thing when she's waiting for lab results." Danny offered with a grin that quickly dissolved when Lindsay shot her look of annoyance in his direction.

"You would have spent the whole day tapping your pen on the table, looking at the clock, calling my cell phone every fifteen minutes to see where I was. I wanted to spare us all the agony of your impatience." He said gesturing to with his hand to all of her coworkers.

"Thanks." Danny said, forgetting that she would again give him that glare.

"You're very lucky, I could have been in the field, and missed you," she warned. "Besides, I hate surprises, you know that."

Daniel glanced at Danny sharing a conspiratorial grin. "Yeah, I know. That's another reason why I did it." Danny and Flack laughed out loud.

Mac was trying not to smile when he offered, "well I think you and Danny are at an impass." _In more ways than one,_ Danny thought. "Why don't you take the afternoon and show your brother the city, we'll call you if anything breaks with the case."

"Thanks Mac." "Thank you sir." Lindsay and Daniel said at the same time.

Stella, Mac and Flack walked together to Mac's office, as Danny returned to the results that were frustrating them. Lindsay gathered her things and Danny noted out of the corner of his eye how her brother held her coat for her as she put it on, and stood waiting with the purse she had handed him while she put things away and in order. There was an easy intimacy that comes from sharing an upbringing, and a rim of joy that surrounded Lindsay in her brother's presence. Danny was glad to see it. While he knew that a brother in the service overseas was hard, he suspected that alone was not what Lindsay was struggling with. There was more, but perhaps she could at least open up and talk with her brother, relieving some of her turmoil. Maybe, being her brother, he already knew.

"Daniel, I can't believe they let you slouch like that in the military. You look so handsome when you just stand up straight." Lindsay said collecting her purse from him.

"Yes! Ladies and Gentlemen," Daniel said lightly clapping as they pair turned to leave. "Lindsay Monroe's top three lectures, 'You should have been a veterinarian', 'I hate surprises', and my personal favorite 'stop slouching' all within fifteen minutes, she's beat her own record." Daniel mocked the sound of a crowd cheering as they walked towards the elevators.

Danny laughed overhearing the teasing. He liked this kid, he lightened Lindsay up the way Danny thought only he did.

"Ugh! You are so exasperating." Lindsay said while they waited for the elevators.

"I'm a little brother, its part of the job description." Daniel said grinning.

"That's it!" Lindsay said slapping him on the chest. "One second Daniel, I'll be right back." She jogged down the hallway to the lab finding Danny.

"Danny," she said slightly breathless, and slightly taking his breath away with the images that flashed through his mind at the sound of her raspy voice uttering his name.

"Maybe it is a brother." She said. He looked at her not understanding. "The missing vic, maybe he was adopted."

"Boom." Danny said with realization. "I'll go back to the scene and check out family photos. Maybe pull some reference samples from the tooth brushes and combs. Nice call Montana."

She flashed him a smile and turned to find her brother.

TBC


End file.
